Currently, on-street parking is free to anyone, and any motorist has as much right to a spot in front of someone's house as does the person who lives there. That frustrates the Neighbors of Belknap Lookout, which long has voiced frustration about Medical Mile students and employees taking up on-street spots, particularly from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

After the city’s parking system ran a trial permit program last year in Belknap Lookout, City Commission last fall approved a process for creating residential permit zones. Neighborhood associations in Grand Rapids can petition residents to create a permit program in an area at least three blocks long and with at least 75 percent of parking spaces occupied - half of them by non-residents.

The permit system aims to ensure that residents with limited off-street parking can get a parking spot on the street near their homes. The permits would cost $15 for six months for residents. Non-resident commuters could get a permit for $4 per day, $75 for 30 days or $200 for 90 days. Residents with a permit also could get a 24-hour guest permit for $2.

Recent parking counts done by the city found that stretches of Coit and Clancy, north of Trowbridge, did not meet the occupancy threshold required to qualify for a parking zone. But the city’s Parking Commission last week recommended a waiver because “college was not in session and that probably had an impact,” said Pam Ritsema, the city’s managing director of enterprise services, including parking.

“There’s odd-even parking in the winter months and at least a couple block faces are restricted in the winter, which would also add pressure to those streets,” she said.

In order for a residential permit program to take effect, at least 50 percent of property owners in the designated zone would have to support it in a postcard election.

Ritsema said some other city neighborhoods have inquired about parking permit programs, but only Belknap Lookout has applied.